WHEN the University of Washington began requiring academics to issue ‘land acknowledgements’ in a shamelessly politicised attempt to suggest indigenous ownership of the land on which the campus stands, one professor responded by tucking a witheringly satirical version into his course syllabus. You may not have heard of Stuart Reges, but his small act of intellectual resistance led ultimately to a significant First Amendment ruling that strengthens protections for all public-university academics who refuse to turn themselves into ciphers for progressive pieties.
